We are officially through our first 2 full weeks of school. I have mastered ALL Of my kids names...this may seem minuscule to some of you bc it is expected to learn names when you are a teacher...but I'm talkin I've got 5 different Andreas in one class, loads of Marias, 3 Diegos, and others I still have trouble pronouncing...but I'm there! It makes classroom management a little bit easier when I can call out a students rather than just saying "Hey...excuse me...you there!" haha. We are still working through kinks at school. Our online attendance, grading system still isn't up for HighSchool yet which is really worrying me. I'm seriously the MOST organized I have ever been since I've started teaching, but I know that it won't last much longer and I would feel much better if I could get their grades on the computer and not on a piece of paper which I am sure to lose at some point!
I have had several students tell me that they love my class and I'm their favorite teacher....not sure if they are just sucking up or not...but either way it makes me feel good! One of my classes was CRACKING me up on Friday before our quiz. They are SO different than my old students. Literally 15-20 of my 6th period students walk into my class on Friday looking like they are about ready to cry...because they were so nervous for my quiz. They begged and pleaded and bribed and bartered for their quiz to be changed...and I stood at the board seriously laughing! I'm just not used to that...and it struck me in an odd way and they did not like the fact that I was making light of their math stress! :) I haven't graded their quizzes yet to know if they had reason to worry...but it's life!
Anyway, enough about school. The other girls and I finally got our gym passes so we no longer have an excuse for being lazy! Our first day at the gym went fine. We wanted to pace ourselves...and get a ride home with Sarah so we only stayed for about 35 min! One of the workers even noticed and commented...said next time we were to stay an hour and a half to make up for it! This was us afterwards! We were feelin pretty good about ourselves! :)
We continued to go for 3 days and then our bodies were screaming at us to take a day off so we did! But we've enjoyed the people there...and the classes they offer are great. We did one called TRX and it uses straps that hang from bars and it's all about lifting your own body weight and stuff...FUNKY moves but So fun!
One evening after the gym Jenn and I were pondering what we were going to do for dinner bc we had ran out of food...so on our way home from the gym (we got a ride from Sarah and her fiance) I made a joke about have a party at Sarahs house and they said...sure why don't you come for dinneR?! So, it was perfect bc we went to Sarah and Nahuns (pronounced similar to 'noun') casa for dinner! Nahun is a Hondureno so we were talking to him about the culture and such. He informed us that if we were looking to get married here, one condition MUST be met before we are eligible...we had to know how to make homemade tortillas! :) Lucky for us...WE LEARNED! So we are now officially ON the Honudran man market! hehe. Making them was super fun. I got to knead the flour and Jenn got to start fryin em up. We made close to 30 tortillas. I LOVED IT!
Below is the final step to insuring the tortillas are done. You have to 'poof' them up! THis was the most fun part of the process!
I thought I should try one before we made too many more!
The final product...and man were they tasty!!!
So, Nahun said he would keep his eye out for any single Honduran men between the ages of 24-32! Mom, if you want me to come home...ever...then you better start prayin his search goes sour! HaHa!
After our lovely dinner at their house, we all went out for dessert! Here we got to introduce Nahun to the American delight of French Fries dipped in Ice Cream! Here is what he thought of it...
HAHAHAHAHA! So funny!
But we quite enjoyed ours! They have Chips Ahoy McFlurries here!
So that was our last Friday...which leads us into Saturday. After writing a weeks worth of lesson plans for two classes we treated ourselves by going out with some friends. Joan is an IT teacher at DelCampo who invited to show us around! He picked us up and took us to a FABULOUS little place to eat...ON THE STREET! Two funny things about this...he didn't even think about the fact that our stomachs have not yet adjusted (or more accurately MY stomach) so we were a bit nervous about this adventure. AND this place is known for their meat...and Yasmine (girl from London) is a vegetarian! So all around, it didn't seem as if this place was really what we all needed....BUT MAN IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! I had carne asada on the stick with some beans, cabbage, onions, and cheese. I knew I should have played it safe by NOT eating the cabbage but I couldn't help it...it was so good!
This place is seriously set up outside these ppls house and it is one of the most POPULAR places to eat around here! And the best part is that for my entire meal...it was less than $4! There was a line from when we got there to when we left of at least 30 ppl! Crazy busy. Crazy good!
After dinner we went to a place called La Cantina. They had live music which was really cool. It was just a chill place where we all just were able to sit around and chit chat. We met some new people and had a lovely time! Worst thing about it...the bathrooms! I went to use the restroom, and NO JOKE there was pee ALL over the seat, the floor, and used toilet paper SPILLING out of the trash can. I seriously am surprised I didn't throw up...it was SIIIICK!
Sunday we went to church with Nahun and Sarah. Nahun's father is an 'associate' pastor there. I think it would have been INCREDIBLE but it was Mission Month so all they did was talk about different places they have missionaries...don't get me wrong that is amazing but it just wasn't the most interesting of services. However, the kids did a miming thing which was really cute. I think we will plan to go back to this church (the ppl were SO VERY NICE and they had an overhead projector so it's easier for me to follow!) but we will wait until the Mission month is over.
Our next big adventure was our trip to get water. This was our first time to go get water on our own. And literally we went ON OUR OWN! Kristi lent us her car to go get it (bc she was supposed to take us and couldn't). So I let Jenn drive bc I didn't want to be responsible for wrecking it! haha. The water place wasn't far from the house...but it was still a bit nervous. It had been almost a month since either of us have driven...
Later in the week (thursday) Sarah had a birthday! The same day as my wonderful brother! So it was a day full of Happy Birthdays! Jenn and I made Sarah a cake and a sign for her classroom! I was quite impressed with my sign...thinkin about makin myself one even though it's not my birthday!
Anyway, that leads me to this weekend. Friday I went to a dance class at the gym and it was AMAZING! Afterwards Jenn and I spent an hour looking for a phone number to some pizza place but never found it. So we took our chances and called a taxi, hoping they would know where the place was. We made it...and then had to wait 30 minutes for it to cook. In the meanwhile we got to watch a gecko on the wall of the restaurant scout his prey and then ATTACK! It was the coolest thing ever! We definitely looked like crazy Americans because were were jumping, clapping, shouting and cheering for this little gecko. It was like watching the discovery channel...LIVE! :) Haha. We finally got our pizza, called the taxi back and got home to eat. By this time it was already almost 9o'clock. Long evening! So we put in a movie, ate, and relaxed. BUT we couldn't stay up too late because we had Open House on Saturday morning at the school. BOOOO! It actaully went very well. I only had about ten parents show up, but they were all very nice and supportive. I was expecting more parent involvement since it is a private school....but the others said that was typical...especially in HS. Jenn had all but 5 parents show up so some were more successful than others! We only had to work from 7:30-12 but it totally took away our Saturday. We got home and I graded papers and Jenn napped. But before we knew it it was 6 o'clock in the eve and we had to to go Sarah's bday party! Unfortuantely all of our parent teacher conferences are on Saturdays so that won't be the last wasted work weekend! :(
Sarah's birthday party was a BLAST! We met some of her friends from her last school and met more of Nahun's family! Once everyone got warmed up to each other...the dancing began!!! Haha. Bascially it was Nahun's family and me dancing in the living room while everyone else sat outside and chit chatted. But i couldn't sit still so I just jumped right in! It was awesome! I was a hot sweaty mess by the end of the night. Luckily, Jenn jumped in later and we both went crazy!
A little merengue action!
The girls arrived a little later and we had a welcome treat for them...by the look on their faces, it's safe to say that our jello concoction went bad...oops!
But that was soon forgotten when it came time to BUST OPEN THE PINATA!!! That's right, folks, there was a pinata. And from this day forward any party that I throw WILL have a pinata! :)
It was classic to see grown adults fight over the candy spillage! It was so much fun! And it's inspired me to make a project out of it for my classroom. We will paper mache (sp?) pinatas and relate it to finding surface area...or something! I think it's a great idea!!! Anyway, the party was a huge success! We even got to take some food home which is fabulous!
Jenn and I did not make it to church this morning...but I really needed the time to work on school work...even though all I've done this morning is blog and check facebook...ooops! hah. Well, I'm about to start school work...
Later we have dinner with Venita (my old principle) and hopefully a trip to PriceMart (costco). Alright...well I hope you enjoyed the catch up. Nothing as exciting as previous posts but it's life...ups and downs. OOOH!
I just remembered...so after we ate the street food...I was cursed again! Sunday night I woke up around 1:30 with the same dreaded stomach pains as my first week here. After an hour of horrendous cramps I finally woke up my roommate and asked her to pray with me. And I kid you not, the Lord heard our prayers and the pain subsided and i was able to go back to sleep and wake up feeling well enough to go to work. It was miracle and I was sure to share it with others! God is so good and has been so faithful to us here. I can honestly say that the Lord is changing me/molding me for something and I am so excited to see where he leads! Thank you for all your prayers! Trust that they are being heard and answered. I miss all of you so much! Feel free to message me anytime and fill me in on life in the US!
OH YEAH...another thing! haha. My classroom! It is finally ALMOST done! haha. I had to work really hard to finish decorating before the parents showed on Saturday! So, here is the 'finished' product.
And my Dr. Suess quote behind my desk. LOVE IT! Thanks to my lovely roommate who took the time to cut all the letters out for me (on her cricut machine...not by hand!). :)
Okay...NOW i'm done! Have a good week everyone!
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